Erinnyis ello

Erinnyis ello
Erinnyis ello - MHNT
Erinnyis ello △ - MHNT
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Erinnyis
Species: E. ello
Binomial name
Erinnyis ello
(Linnaeus, 1758)[1]
Synonyms
  • Sphinx ello Linnaeus, 1758
  • Erinnyis cinifera Zikán, 1934
  • Erinnyis ello omorfia (Mooser, 1942)

Erinnyis ello, commonly known as the "ello sphinx", is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is distributed from Argentina through Central America to the United States as far north as Nevada.

The wingspan is 75–85 mm. The abdomen has gray and black bands. The forewing upperside of the female is pale gray with a few dark dots near the outer margin, while the forewing upperside of the male is dark gray and brown with a black band running from the base to the tip. In both sexes, the hindwing upperside is orange with a wide black border.[2]

Adults are on wing year round in the tropics and southern Florida. Adults feed on the nectar of various flowers, including common soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) and Chinese violet (Asystasia gangetica).

The larva feeds on a variety of host plants, including papaya (Carica papaya) in the family Caricaceae, poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), Cnidoscolus urens and cassava (Manihot esculenta) in the Euphorbiaceae, guavas (Psidium spp.) in the Myrtaceae, and saffron plum (Sideroxylon celastrinum) in the Sapotaceae.

Subspecies

References

  1. "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Archived from the original on 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2011-10-19.
  2. "Silkmoths". Silkmoths.bizland.com. Retrieved 2011-10-19.

External links